Friday, April 25, 2008

The Chocolate Lady 2008 Vegetarian Peysekh Survival Guide

This year I picked up this amusing little notebook plate at Fishs Eddy. You can write on them with dry-erase markers.

I think I have time to convey two new recipes before yontif.For me the biggest revelation this year was baked plantains.I can’t think of anything easier to make.

Baked Plantains

Heat oven to 400F.Place whole ripe plantains on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes. They will split open at exactly the right moment all by themselves.Serve with butter, coarse salt, and sour cream (or, if you prefer, butter, brown sugar, and sour cream)

Red Pepper Puree for Asparagus (or Other Things)

2 red bell peppers

1 fresh chile pepper (optional)

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

salt

Place the peppers on a sheet of aluminum foil and cook them under the broiler, turning a few times, until the skin is charred all over.Wrap them in the foil until they are cool enough to handle.Peel the peppers and remove the seeds.Puree them with the oil, vinegar and seasonings. Lovely with fresh steamed (peeled!) asparagus)

I also made spinach soup with whole wheat matzo balls. Click on the top photo for the recipe.

11 Comments:

The last time (a long time ago) a pope visited the US during Passover, my late father, a sweet cornball punster/silly guy, whose demeanor closely resembled that of Danny Kaye, expressed a desire to meet him, so he could wish him,"Gut yontif, Pontiff." Why I felt the need to tell you this, I do not know.

Mmmmm, plantain and roast peanuts. Sounds good, except peanuts in most American stores are already roasted and salted. I'd go to an Indian store, like Patel's in Queens, and buy raw peanuts. Throw them in the pan with the plantains and roast both together. I'll try it soon.

I am trying to ind a copy of my Aunt Fania's vegitarian cookbook: Lewando, Fania, 1938, Vegetarish-dietetisher kokhbukh Vilna: Druk. Inz. G. Kleckina. You mention this book in your blog. Do you have the book? I'd be happy to pay for it to be copied. She had a vegitarian restaurant in Vilna named the Kuchina Dieta-Jarska. My Aunt perished in the holocaust.

DocHeshie, I recently acquired a copy of the 1938 Yiddish vegetarian cookbook printed in Vilna. It has color plates, portrait of the author and testimonials by her customers, Marc Chagall and Itzik Manger. Does anyone in your family remember your aunt? What is the Niemecka (Deutsche Gasse) called today in Vilnius?

DocHeshie,Please contact me at my email address inmolaraan at gmailk9ahuraI believe Lewando's restaurant was in the shulhof in Vilna, so the street may have been one of those that is gone--I might be able to find out more.

Microfilm copies of Fania Lewando's cookery book may be ordered from Harvard University. The color illustrations of vegetables which she used were obtained from seed packets which were sold in Europe and Palestine.In addition to Harvard, recently a copy was donated to YIVO.

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About Me

In Mol Araan: A blog about food and words in Yiddish and English including but not limited to cooking, recipes, culinary lexicography, delights and curiosities of the plant world, and cookbooks [Scroll down for English content] email: inmolaraan at gmail dot com